As a novelist Mr. Costain has always been at his best when he gave his rollicking fancy a free rein. His favorite formula is to fling a handful of worthy and attractive people into the maelstrom of disastrous historical events and then bring them safely to harbor in the final pages. He surrounds these core characters with a picaresque train of supernumeraries and keeps the drama of their adventures moving at an exhilarating gallop….

[In "The Darkness and the Dawn"] the historical setting is Europe in the middle of the chaotic fifth century when Attila the Hun assailed the dissolving Roman Empire….

Nicolan and Ildico [are] the hero and heroine of "The Darkness and the Dawn."… They and a few loyal friends symbolize the decent people of this world, struggling with courage and dignity against the rising tide of barbarism. One gathers that the spread of their humane...